Apparatus for handling strip material



Jan. 27, 1942. E. A. DAVIS ETAL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING STRIP MATERIAL Filed March 3, 1939 Tales 7 JT'ZL/ET'? 302.7550 1? fa/727 F- Patented Jan. 27, 1942 OFFICE APPARATUS FOR HANDLING STRIP MATERIAL Edward A. Davis, Akron, and John F. Morse,"

Hudson, Ohio, assignors to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 3, 1939, Serial No. 259,692

4 Claims. (01.242-45) This invention relates to apparatus for handling strip material and is especially useful in winding or coiling strip material during the manufacturing process.

In the production of long lengths of rubber tubing and other strip material by extrusion, it is frequently desired to coil the strip spirally on pans for vulcanization. Usually the strip material is fed from th extruding machine by a conveyor which delivers it to the pan on which it is coiled. Inasmuch as the speed of extrusion varies, variable speed conveyors are provided to coordinate the speeds of feeding and extruding, and for this reason and for the further reason that as the coiling progresses the speed of rotation of the coiling pan must necessarily change, it is necessary to provide for varying the speed of the pan so that the strip material will be coiled upon it smoothly and without undesirable tension or objectionable slack. Various means have been proposed heretofore for accomplishing this, but so far as we are aware such means have not been wholly satisfactory, chiefly because the control of the winding speed has not been sufficiently sensitive and reliable for the desired automatic operation. 7

The chief objects of this invention are to overcome the difliculties of the prior operations, to provide a highly sensitive control of the winding speed in coordination with the feeding speed, and to provide simplicity of structur and reliability of operation.

These and further objects will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away, of apparatus constructed in accordance with and embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 1, parts being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a view as seen from the left in Fig. 1 of the control mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The above stated objects are attained in the preferred embodiment of the invention by providing a motor drive for the winding mechanism and controlling the back pressure in this motor by means operated under the control of a reach of the strip material approaching the winder. In the case of air-motor operation, a valve in the exhaust line is operated to constrict or enlarge the exhaust passage of the motor, so that a back pressure of varying degree is maintained in the motor. Thus, when the exhaust is completely closed the back pressure builds up to prevent operation of the motor entirely, and as the valve is open the back pressure is released so that the pressure differential causes operation at gradually increased speed. This speed control has been found to be very sensitive in response.

Referring to the drawing, strip material A, which may be unvulcanized rubber requiring careful handling, is fed by a conveyor l0 and delivered to apan l I, where by rotation of the pan the material is wound into a coil B. Between the conveyor l0 and the pan II the strip material is permitted to descend in a festoon C.

For mounting the pan II a pedestal base l2 supports a vertically disposed shaft l3 which is mounted for rotation in a base through an antifriction bearing l4 and has keyed to it a pan support l5 and a driving sprocket I 6. The sprocket I6 is driven through a chain I! from a sprocket I8 on the shaft of a motor IS, the latter being mounted upon a bracket structure 2 secured to the pedestal base l2.

The motor I9, which preferably is operated by air but may be operated by other fluids including liquids, has an intake 2| and an exhaust at 22.' The exhaust is connected by a pipe line 23 to a valve 24 from which leads a discharge line 25. The discharge line 25 may be open to the atmosphere in the case of air operation or it may be connected to a reservoir in the case of liquid operation. Y

The valve 24 is mounted upon an arm 26 depending from a bracket 21 secured to the base pedestal. An upward continuation 2B of the arm 26 supports a guide structure including a roller 29 and vertical pins 30, 30, between which pins and over which roller the strip material passes on its way to the pan II. A guide plate 3|, hinged at 32 to the support is provided for further guiding the material and protecting it from abrasion by the margin of the rotating pan.

The valve 24 comprises a body 33 having an inlet 34 connected to the pipe line 23 and an outlet 35 connected to the pipe 25. A rotatable valve member 36 extends transversely through the body 33 and is cut away at 31 in the manner shown in Fig. 4 so that communication between the ports 34 and 35 can be varied upon rotation of the member 36. The valve member 36 projects beyond the body 33 and is operated by a control arm 38 in the form of a light rod having a laterally bent end portion 39 positioned to bear against the strip material in the festoon C and to be lifted and dropped in accordance C as shown in the drawing, in which position the valve 24 is partially open so that some escape of the pressure fluid from the exhaust of the motor is permitted, and the motor operates at a speed determined thereby. As the linear speed of the strip material going into the coil decreases by virtue of the enlargement of the coil, and assuming the feeding speed from the conveyor It to be substantially constant the while, the festoon C will enlarge. This Will permit the rod 38 to drop causing the valve 24 to be opened wider. The back pressure in the motor I9 will there-, upon be reduced causing the motor to speed up until the festoon C shortens sufiiciently to swing the rod 38 upward, whereupon the valve 24 will close somewhat to build up back pressure in the motor and cause the latter to slow down. The valve member 36 may be rotatably adjusted, and the rod 38 may be bent to position it as desired for the proper operation, and when so adjusted the operation is automatic and requires little or no attention except for arranging the strip material on the pan at the start of rewinding, and renewing the pans.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is hereinafter claimed.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for handling strip material, said apparatus comprising means for winding the strip material, means for feeding the material to the winding means, a fluid-operated motor for driving the winding means, said motor having an exhaust line means for coordinating the speeds of said motor and feeding means comprising a control element positioned to contact a reach of the strip material between the feeding means and the winding means, and a valve operated by said control element and connected to the exhaust line of said motor for varying the exhaust pressure to regulate automatically the speed of said motor in accordance with variations in the position of said reach of the strip material.

2. Apparatus for handling flexible low tensile strength strip material, said apparatus comprising feeding means and winding means for progressively delivering the strip material free from tension, said winding means comprising a rotatable support and fluid pressure means having an outlet and being sensitive to back pressure for rotating the same, means associated with said outlet for controlling the back pressure, said last mentioned means including means for contacting a free reach of the strip material between the *feeding means and the winding means for varying the back pressure in accordance with the position of said reach to regulate automatically the speed of the winding means.

3. Apparatus for handling flexible low tensile strength strip material, said apparatus comprising feeding means and winding means for progressively delivering the strip material free from tension, said winding means comprising a rotatable support and a fluid pressure operated motor sensitive to back pressure for rotating the same, said motor having a fluid outlet, valve means associated with said outlet for controlling the back pressure on said motor, and means for contacting a free reach of the strip material between the feeding means and the winding means for operating the valve means to regulate automatically the speed of said motor and winding means in accordance with the position of said reach.

4. Apparatus for handling flexible low tensile strength strip material, said apparatus comprising feeding means and winding means for progressively delivering the strip material free from tension, said winding means comprising a rotatable support and an air pressure operated motor sensitive to back pressure for rotating the same, said motor having a single air outlet pipe with a valve therein for controlling the back pressure on said motor, and means contacting a free reach of the strip material between the feeding means and the winding means for operating said valve to regulate automatically the speed of said motor and winding means in accordance with the position of said reach.

- EDWARD A. DAVIS.

JOHN F. MORSE. 

